


Redemption by fire

by Aync1lgw



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aang & Zuko (Avatar) Friendship, Action/Adventure, Badass Katara (Avatar), Badass Sokka (Avatar), Badass Zuko (Avatar), Canon-Typical Violence, Eventual Katara/Zuko (Avatar), F/M, Gen, Inner Dialogue, Introspection, Iroh (Avatar) is a Good Uncle, Order of the White Lotus, POV Alternating, POV Katara (Avatar), POV Zuko (Avatar), Protective Aang (Avatar), Slow Build, Slow Burn, Sokka & Zuko (Avatar) Friendship, Zutara, searching for Iroh, set after The Invasion
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:27:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28051656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aync1lgw/pseuds/Aync1lgw
Summary: On a mission to find out about Iroh's whereabouts, Zuko ends up putting everything on the line. Surprisingly, he is not alone. For he finds help in the unlikeliest of places. And maybe love as well?A slow burn/ slow build up story of trust, friendship, forgiveness, loyalty and love.After all, Uncle Iroh was right when he said- Destiny is surely a funny thing.
Relationships: Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 31





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is set immediately after the events of the invasion. Katara had just walked out after threatening Zuko and it picks up right after that. I know it has a very slow build, eventual slow burn; but please have patience. Good things will happen, I promise :)

* * *

Zuko stared at her as she walked out of the room, assaulted by a barrage of conflicting emotions and if he was being honest with himself, he was not entirely surprised. He would have to have been a fool to not expect any sort of hostility from the water bender, considering all that he had put them through in his hunt for the Avatar. Shaking his head silently, and with a somewhat heavy heart, he resumed unpacking his meager belongings that he had hurriedly stuffed together in his tiny backpack before making a run for it.

His hand touched a wooden frame and slowly he pulled out the one thing he could not have left behind: Uncle Iroh's smiling face looked at him from the glassy enclave of the picture frame. The small vestiges of guilt that he sometimes successfully managed to push to the back of his mind always came back with a vengeance, a roaring force whenever he looked at that picture. It was almost a penance, a savage desire to hurt himself and to remind himself of how Iroh was with him in every step of the way but he was too blind, too stupid to recognize the strength of his uncle’s self-sacrifice, too stupid to think of it as nothing but weakness...

He looked out the window, his fingers tracing the outline of the picture. The rays of the setting sun glimmered over the vast canyon overlooking the air temple; a surreal place, such beauty tinted with such despair. He wondered if the spirits of the slain air benders still wandered around these corridors at night, seeking peace. A peace that he himself had been searching for so desperately ever since he was burnt and banished in shame. 

Everything that had happened, that had impacted him, could be traced back to the moment his mother had disappeared that fateful night; and every act, every word, every instance since then had been building up to this moment, this exact moment when he could finally summon the strength and courage to say “enough”; to finally open his eyes to see what destiny really had in store for him.

Zuko stood up wearily, heading over to the tiny fireplace and softly putting the picture frame on to the mental and for a moment, his thoughts wandered back to that horrific night he first heard about his cousin Lu Ten's death. A wry smile etched upon his lips, and he chuckled dryly, the contrast between the two brothers never being more apparent: Iroh, who was never able to recover from the pain of losing his son and Ozai, who made sure to make his son’s life a living hell, in every possible way.

What a life, he sighed, slumping on to the tiny cot and closing his tired eyes. So much had happened in the past 24 hours that he was still reeling from it all. And the only thing that kept him going was Uncle Iroh's voice in his head: "Destiny is a funny thing"

He must have drifted off to sleep somewhere in the middle of his broken thoughts of remorse, for the next thing he knew, he was jerked awake by someone knocking at his door.

“Hey there, Prince Zuko”, the water tribe warrior looked as uncomfortable as Zuko felt. “Or Prince. Or Zuko. Whatever you want us to call you.”

“Zuko is fine” he muttered, running a nervous hand through his shaggy hair.

“Riiigght—” Sokka mumbled, fidgeting a bit. “So, you want to help us out with getting the food ready?”

Zuko was not sure what to say to that and ended up nodding his head instead.

“Great! Join us in the courtyard as soon as you are done unpacking.” Sokka did a strange involuntary pirouette, caught himself in time to stop and left with an awkward smile.

Despite himself, Zuko could not help feeling a bit amused at the awkwardness. He put on his robes and looked back at the picture on the mantel once again, closed the door and resolutely made his way towards the courtyard. In his heart he knew Iroh would approve and even if the water bender was waiting at the next corner to snuff out his life, he would at least die knowing he tried to do the right thing.

The next few days passed by in a whirl of activity. Zuko was well aware of the hostility among the Avatar’s gang towards him but with every passing day, he could feel it reducing, or at least he hoped the sharp edge of resentment was mellowing down bit by bit, just like the setting rays of the sun. He slowly settled into a routine; mostly keeping to himself, speaking only when spoken to and silently helping every night to prepare and serve the food. However, he could always sense the murderous intent of the water bender, anytime he was near the Avatar. The intensity of those shooting angry glances barely diminished and Zuko found himself walking on eggshells whenever he had to be around her.

It had been around a week by then when they finally decided that the Avatar was ready to learn fire bending and he would start their first lesson, early the next morning. That night, Zuko could not sleep. He was nervous, imagining scenarios of accidently setting the Avatar on fire and effectively meeting his own demise in the process. He tried to convince himself that everything was going to be alright and that he would be a good teacher, but self-doubt began to creep in venomously, poisoning whatever shred of confidence he had left in him. He tried to relax, to force himself to sleep but it was late at night and after tossing and turning for what felt like hours, he finally gave up.

He laid on his back, his eyes listlessly fixed on the ceiling above him.

“What am I doing?” he mumbled to himself.

Frustrated, he got up from the bed and picked up his broadswords. There was no point trying to sleep, he was too full of nervous energy and he figured a good training session with his swords would help get it out of his system. Strapping the dual swords onto his back, he silently walked out to the courtyard. Momo jumped up on to his shoulder, his big eyes glinting in the moonlight and Zuko absentmindedly caressed his furry head, carefully making his way through the sleeping bodies lying next to the tiny fire they had set up after dinner. A loud snore from Sokka stopped him mid step and he carefully looked back towards the sleeping water tribe warrior, curled up onto the big bison’s belly. His eyes immediately went to the sleeping bag next to Sokka’s, the one that the water bender used every night.

He stopped in his tracks; the sleeping bag was empty.

Zuko tensed. The whole camp was silent, Sokka's snores being the only noise besides the night birds' calls. Unnerved, he looked around once more, a slow panic starting to build up in his chest. Did something happen? No, he shook his head vehemently. There was no way anyone could have walked in and kidnapped her right from under the Avatar’s nose. But then, he had done it himself once before, a silent voice in his head reminded him. Under very similar circumstances in fact. Suddenly uncomfortable, he glanced over wearily towards the woods to the right; he knew there was a river running at the bottom of the canyon and if the water bender had gone off anywhere, that would be the first place he could think of. Or anyone else who might be lying in wait to get their hands on the Avatar.

Making up his mind, Zuko took his swords out and quietly made his way over to the woods, his eyes looking out for any signs of trouble. It was going to be a long night.

~~**~~**~~

Zuko walked silently down the narrow path, the leaves rustling in the wind. His eyes darted furtively around the woods, trying to see if there were any signs of a struggle or of a fight. Everything seemed normal, the bright full moon illuminating the path before him like a silver ribbon. Where did she go?

He was just about to give up and go get the Avatar when he saw her, right up, next to the river's edge. He could feel himself relax his grip on the swords slightly and Momo jumped down his shoulder and ran up to her. She looked around startled, a water whip suspended in midair, when she saw him. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of the swords and Zuko hastily put them back.

"Have you been following me?" she asked suspiciously.

Zuko didn’t know what to say. It was not like he was planning on stalking her in the middle of the night, but he also did not know how to explain why he was out there and so, as usual, he decided to keep quiet.

The water bender glared at him with such animosity in her eyes that Zuko involuntarily took a step back, cringing inside. He tried to avoid her gaze and looking around her, he could see the river’s edge covered with water lilies. Suddenly he realized what she was doing; the water bender had been gathering spirit water lilies. Looking at them now, he could remember his uncle and his words which seemed to come from very far away. In a distant past... in a distant world, during a visit to Ember island, he had told cousin Lu Ten and him about the legend of the water lilies; that they bloomed only during the full moon night at the midnight hour, just before the summer solstice. Those are the flowers which are offered to one's ancestors as a token of gratitude for passing down the deep and infinite knowledge of the water bending arts.

“Stay away from me and don't you dare follow me again" the water bender hissed and walked past him with the flowers clutched to her chest.

“I did not follow you” he tried to explain and without thinking, he reached out and grabbed her arm.

The water bender froze and Zuko hastily let go.

“I am sorry” he muttered, taking a few steps back. “I didn’t mean to—”

“Didn’t mean to what?” she snarled, “Try to sneak up on me and take me out?”

“I would never—”

A shrill laugh. “Oh, excuse me if I don’t believe you. Mister I-must-capture-the-avatar.”

Zuko ran a weary hand against his face. He didn’t want to do this; he really really didn’t want to do this. Holding his hands up in a sign of surrender, he slowly stepped back further to the side, leaving the path open for her to walk away. The withering glare he was leveled with did nothing to calm him down, but he held his tongue and watched mutely, her anger radiating off in waves and leaving the air around him at least ten degrees cooler than normal.

He just didn’t know how to react anymore. What do you say to the person who had been shredding you apart and questioning your every move from the day you arrived? What exactly do you say to the person who threatened to kill you the very first day you gave up your whole life to help the avatar defeat your father, to defeat your own people, your own nation?

"What's the matter with you _Prince_ Zuko?" she spat. "You think we are too lowly for you to talk to? The great Prince of the fire nation? Ever since you joined us, you have hardly spoken two sentences together."

Zuko flinched.

"But maybe it’s a good thing” she continued, "You speak nothing but lies! I was once fooled into believing those lies and it nearly cost Aang his life"

A clear image of the Avatar's lifeless body falling down after Azula hit him with her lightning flashed through his mind. And somehow all the hostility that she had towards him justified themselves a hundred times over. It was guilt and regret and her terrifying fear of what could have been.

“I have apologized, and I will continue to apologize for it if you want me to” he exhaled. “I am trying to set things right.” His eyes flicked over to the spirit water lilies blooming by the shore, realizing even as he spoke about how fear and regret was so easy to identify with than any other emotion in the world.

Giving him one last blistering look of contempt, the water bender stomped past him, up the path leading back to the temple.

For a long time, Zuko sat by the shore of the river; all the turmoil inside him, all the confusion and all the regrets making their way back to the surface, an anger he had not felt for a long-time taking hold of him. The cool rays of the moon seemed to burn at the anger which was scorching the very blood in his veins. He forced his hands to stop shaking, and he knew as clear as day that if he ever let go now, he would never be able to find himself back again.

~~**~~**~~

Strange- That was the only word running through Katara’s mind. She absentmindedly nodded her head, feeling the water slipping through her fingers. Though it had been more than a week, finding Zuko at their doorstep, offering to teach fire bending - well- there was no other word for it, it was just— strange.

Katara shook her head, trying to concentrate again. She had been practicing, working on her octopus form, a vague idea in her head about wanting to make the water hover around her waist in a circle; but for the past half an hour, the water refused to listen to her, splashing down hopelessly around her every single time she tried. She sighed in defeat- well, this was not going to work; her concentration was full of holes and she reluctantly decided to take a break.

She walked over to sit by the shade of the tree and suddenly felt the earth rumble beneath her feet. She barely had time to maintain her balance when a faint shriek, a loud thump, and a groan, followed by Toph's sarcastic laugh echoed down to the riverside. Katara shook her head, trying to suppress a smile. The sun had already started painting the sky with a tinge of brilliant orange, lending a soft comforting peaceful golden glow to the walls of the temple.

It has been a little over ten hours now since Aang left with Zuko in search of the ancient relics of the extinct sun warrior tribe, hoping to come across something which would help Zuko get his fire bending back. She had felt a twinge of suspicion when he had proposed the idea to Aang; but had decided to hold her tongue back at Aang's determined expression.

She was still angry, scowling at the memory of Zuko apologizing again last night, _as if_ a few spoken words would be enough to repair the damage he had done. Despite everything, years of pain just does not wash away in a week. He said he had changed, begged for them to give him a second chance. But had he really? Did he really give up on his own family, his own people? How could he possibly build up his own conviction to admit that he was wrong, that the fire nation was wrong? How did he find the courage to throw away his pride and to join his enemies just because it was the right thing to do?

She did not believe anyone was capable of such strength. It had to be a lie, there was no other explanation for it. Even she didn’t have such strength... Like a long-forgotten dream, the events of the day when Zuko had first attacked their small village in search of Aang came back to her. She could still hear Sokka calling out her name when she had angrily marched away from them, roughly dragging Aang along, infuriated at Sokka's unjust act of banning Aang from their village.

_"Katara! Would you really choose him over your tribe? Your own family?"_

She had hesitated, she had stumbled, and she had given in...

The evening wind gently ruffled her hair. She wondered if Aang was alright, if Zuko had managed to find his fire bending back. Would it be another mistake to trust the Prince again? Was she willing to take the risk? Why was she even thinking about it? Strange—

It was getting late at night and there were still no signs of Aang. A small tinge of panic had started to form in her stomach by then.

“Relax Katara!” Sokka muffled through a mouthful of meat. “I am pretty sure those 'jerkbenders' are doing perfectly fine.”

Still agitated, she made her way over to the terrace and sat down by a pillar, a giant statue of an air bender towering over her. The moon was softly glowing and spreading her cool rays over the canyon and as she watched the sky, she suddenly caught sight of something that looked like Aapa and for a heart stopping moment, she eagerly stood up but then the cloud shifted, and the illusion shattered.

“Stop it Katara!” she said sternly to herself. Aang was the Avatar and was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. And Zuko— she did not want to think about him anymore.

Ever since their village was attacked and their father left with the other warriors to help in the ongoing war, she has had no one to turn to. Being there for Sokka and Gran Gran was all that sustained her throughout the lonely nights of fear and mourning. Faith in the Avatar was all that kept her from giving up on life. Sometimes she still could not believe they had managed to come so far. There was still hope. The families torn apart by war would one day be able to get back together again, the fear that has spread throughout the world will be replaced by peace once again and their father will finally be home with them after all these years.

Yes, have faith. Everything will be alright.

Aang and Zuko returned early, the next morning.

~~**~~**~~

“Oh yeah? What's your fire bending form called?" Katara asked, trying to hide her amusement.

"The dancing dragon..." He said in a dejected voice, his face a mixture of irritation and embarrassment.

Everyone around them burst out laughing, the sound spilling over the canyon. Zuko walked away in a huff, his head held high and his shoulders straight but Katara could tell he was fuming inside. She looked at Aang, who had a huge smile on his face as he sat down next to Toph and Sokka. She was so relieved to see him back, to find out that he was alright that she dragged him into an impulsive hug, silently thanking the spirits for taking care of the Avatar.

"Gee Katara, I am fine. Seriously" Aang mumbled, his face turning red.

“I know Aang.” She laughed happily. “And I never doubted that.” She pointedly ignored Sokka’s snigger at her words. “Take some rest and meet me by the river in about a couple of hours. Ok?"

He nodded his head and she just could not stop smiling down at his face. All that worrying, all that mistrust— maybe she owed Zuko an apology. The dragons had deemed him worthy, right? That must mean something, right? Maybe not an apology as such, but at least acknowledge that she was wrong in doubting his intentions maybe? Making up her mind, she started walking towards the place she last saw Zuko heading towards.

"So, you mean to say the dragons didn't eat him up? Sigh... What is the world coming to?" Sokka’s voice followed her down the corridor and she couldn’t help chuckling.

Rounding the end of the corridor, she finally came upon Zuko. He was pacing the length of the terrace furiously but before she could open her mouth, he snarled at her without even turning his head "What? Came here to laugh at me some more?"

Katara exhaled slowly; this was not going to be easy. She cautiously stepped forward; the irony not lost on her.

"No. I came to thank you for looking after Aang"

There was a long silence. He did not react. Nothing, just continued on with his pacing.

Katara nervously twirled her hair in her finger, waiting for a response.

"Look" she tried again. " I admit I was a bit nervous about him going with you alone." His shoulders straighten a little. "And you can’t say that you haven’t given me enough reasons for doing so" she pointed out, remorseless. "You can't blame me, can you? But I apologize for being rude when your firebending.. " she struggled for the word. " dwindled" she finished lamely.

No response.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" she asked, a spark of anger flaring up inside her. He turned abruptly and took a few steps towards her, and unconsciously Katara stepped back, keeping her distance. He glared down at her and she found herself looking up at his face, standing her ground. He was taller than Sokka and towered over her. Katara gulped. 

And then briefly he nodded his head. Katara guessed that was as good of an acknowledgement as she could get out of him, so she smiled back, relieved. But now that he was standing closer, she could sense a veil of sadness surrounding him, his eyes looking weary and – regretful? Automatically, she reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"What is it?" Katara asked slowly, her smile faltering, instincts taking over. He looked at her hand on his shoulder and his gaze shifted to her face, finally resting on her eyes. She abruptly dropped her hand, wondering why she did that.

Zuko stood back and took a deep breath, his gaze flickering on to the distant horizon.

"It’s my uncle"

If she hadn't seen his lips move, she would have sworn she was hearing voices in her head. He shrugged his shoulder and walked away from her.

"What about him?" Katara watched him as he sat down on the steps.

He didn't say anything and Katara wondered what to do next. The conflicting feelings of anger towards him and curiosity over what he just said, warring inside her. He got Aang back safe and sound, she reminded herself forcefully, so for now, she was going to swallow her anger and give him the benefit of the doubt.

"You miss him, don't you?" she spoke up.

Silence.

"Yeah..."

Katara looked at him, slightly stunned at his admission.

"There is so much that I don't know about him. And to think that all this while he was with me, giving me company on my wild goose chase to capture the Avatar... never once did I bother to ask him— "

"Ask him what?" Katara asked, totally intrigued now.

"So many things— " he waved his hands in front of him. " I can't even begin to comprehend the complexities of that man. And because of my foolishness, I lost him. I have no idea where he is... if only.. if only---”

He trailed off, leaving the words hanging in the air.

Katara was vaguely aware of the risk Zuko was taking in opening up to her, in articulating his thoughts and his _feelings_ and she was frankly, terrified. She hated this guy, hated him enough to threaten him with death but here she was, gaping at him in astonishment.

The wind around them blew up the few fallen leaves on the terrace and swirled them away, rustling the leaves nearby and bringing snatches of Toph's voice over. "Calm down Sokka. That is not meat! It's... " the wind shifted and Toph's voice faded away...

"I am going to look for him"

Katara turned so fast, she almost snapped her neck.

"Are you out of your mind?" she choked. "You do realize the risk involved in it, don't you? You are the enemy of the Fire nation now! No way am I letting Aang’s last hope of learning fire bending extinguish by letting you go and get yourself killed!"

He looked away, grimacing at her words.

"You are one of us now" she continued, trying to think up reasons to make him change his mind. " Your Uncle is more than capable of taking care of himself—”

She never got to finish her sentence for at that instant, he stood up and turned to face her with so much venom in his eyes, she was rendered speechless.

“You don't understand, do you?" he whispered dangerously "It’s not about Uncle being capable of taking care of himself or not. He is the only person in the world who actually cares for me and no way am I turning my back on him when he needs me— not again."

He stalked away, disappearing into a corner, his footsteps slowly fading. Katara stood immobile, his words resonating inside her, bringing up words which she had herself said to Sokka _"I will never ever turn my back on people who need me!"_

She sighed, wondering what the hell was going on; maybe he was human after all. Unsure and uncomfortable with the knowledge, she made her way back to the others.

~~**~~**~~

Katara stumbled across the courtyard the next morning, rubbing the sleep off her eyes and made her way over to where Toph and Sokka were sitting around by the breakfast fire. The sun rays slowly filtered into the air temple, filling it up with the fresh energy of a new day. Katara took a seat next to Toph and yawned widely, stretching her arms. Toph gave her a blank look. "You seem pretty tired today"

"Yeah.” Sokka agreed, looking up from his boomerang that he was polishing with a rag. “When did you sleep last night?"

"I am fine guys" Katara reached out to take an apple from the basket in the middle and sighing contentedly, rested her back against Appa. "Don't worry about me."

Sokka quirked her eyebrow at his sister and she held his gaze steadily, slowly munching the apple.

"All right," Sokka said, raising his hands in mock surrender " I won't ask."

Katara was tired. She could not sleep properly last night, frustrated with a strange fear and anxiety. Finding out about the dragons had been heart stopping enough but learning that the fire bending masters had judged both Aang and Zuko and deemed them both worthy-- she never had a doubt about Aang passing the test but Zuko?

Not to mention yesterday's weird conversation with Zuko had left her very uncomfortable. Knowing how persistent Zuko was, she would not be surprised if he had already thought up of a hundred different ways to get to his uncle by now.

"So, I take it you are warming up to the fire prince now?" Toph's offhand comment brought Katara’s thoughts back to the present. Sokka furtively looked over at her, feigning nonchalance, as if the question didn’t mean anything to him.

" I am not sure, but he asked for a second chance.” She replied. “For Aang's sake, I will tolerate him. For now." A vicious bite on the apple followed that half truth and Toph smirked.

“Since the dragons didn't burn him to a crisp, I guess we can trust him" Sokka added, hopefully.

"That doesn’t give him a get out of jail free card.” Katara pointed out. “But maybe it is a good place to start."

"You are willing to take the dragon's words over mine huh?" Toph yelled. "What about when I said he was being sincere? You both acted like total jerks and were not even willing to listen to me!”

"Calm down Toph" Sokka’s hand stilled on the boomerang. "We have a long history with Zuko and believe me, it’s not exactly the long-lost-brother type of story that we share. We had our reasons and we never said we don't believe you. We were just being cautious that's all"

Toph blew her hair off her face with a huff, and put her hand on her chin, shrugging her shoulders.

"I must admit though" Sokka continued, picking up his boomerang again " It’s nice to finally have another man in our group"

"Oh really?” Toph smirked. “And what do you call Aang then? Foo foo cuddly poops?"

"Hey! Aang is great and all but he is still a kid to me. I am talking about a meat eating and sword fighting master" Sokka replied, swishing his hands in front of him like a sword.

"Sword fighting master huh." Toph drawled, flicking a booger from her nose. " You didn't think so until he thrashed you up the first time you challenged him"

" I have improved" Sokka replied defensively, his face slowly turning the same shade as the apple Katara was eating. "Zuko himself said so! And I did defeat him twice till now!"

“Because he let you”. Toph pointed out.

Katara laughed at the look of pure indignation on Sokka's face but she knew he was getting better. She had seen him spar with Zuko occasionally and she had always admired the way the stances of the swords moved in such perfect symmetry with the body movements; it was like a harmony of motions, a beautiful and deadly one at that.

She left them both trading insults with each other and walked over to the southern courtyard where Aang said he would be practicing his fire bending. She could feel the hot blasts of fire from about a yard away and as she neared the courtyard, she approached, cautious.

"Very good" she could hear Zuko's voice. "That was almost perfect."

"Thank you Sifu Hotman" Aang bowed.

Even from where she was standing, she could clearly see a look of minor irritation cross Zuko's face. It looked like he were about to say something but instead, changed his mind at the last second and nodded his head. Aang’s look of delight lighted up the entire courtyard, his face glowing in the joy of accomplishment.

Zuko stood there, scratching his head, a heady mix of emotions flickering over his face, ranging from amusement to anger to irritation and then finally he smiled.

Katara nearly stumbled out of her hiding place in shock.

~~**~~**~~

Zuko was impressed with the avatar. He had got real talent, the way he was able to pick up the basic moves of fire bending so accurately, in such a short amount of time. Of course, the fact that he was instructed in the stances once before might have played a role in it but Zuko doubted it. From what he had heard of his earlier fire bending teacher so far, his teaching philosophy seemed to directly contradict the very essence of fire bending, as taught to them by the dragons.

It was a life changing experience for Zuko to finally realize what sort of power he carried within himself, the power of life, of energy, of the very essence of their existence. He looked over at Toph sitting next to Sokka; was this how she felt when she first met the Badgermoles?

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard someone clearing their throat next to him and he looked up to see Katara with a bowl in her hands, the light from the bonfire on her back hiding the expressions on her face.

"Your dinner" she said sharply. Something strange was going on with her, Zuko thought. Ever since he told her of his intentions to go search for his uncle.

"Thank you" he reached out to take the bowl from her hands and without another word, she handed it over to him and scurried away from him as fast as she could. Zuko could not help staring after her retreating back, confused. She was trying to avoid him; there was no doubt about it; but he was not getting the I-will-kill-you vibe from her either.

He scratched his head, running through the memories of the past few days to try and figure out if he might have accidentally done something horrible to her. Girls are so difficult to figure out. She was not the Azula type. Zuko would already have been burnt to a crisp otherwise. She was not the Song type either. Song was sweet and caring in a different way and not so fierce like her. Jin? Nope. Mai? His heart gave a painful twist at her name— She cared for him and he… he betrayed her.

He grabbed his chopsticks angrily and stirred the contents of the bowl. How many more people would he have to hurt to do the right thing? He was getting sick of being the cause of pain for so many people. Mai, Iroh... his stomach swooped uncomfortably, and he put the bowl down on the floor, the food untouched.

"Not hungry?" Aang's voice broke through his thoughts.

"No" he didn’t want to look at him, not wanting to see his ever-smiling face.

"You know, Zuko" Aang began again and Zuko could hear the sound of his chopsticks hitting the empty bowl as he put it down on the floor beside him. " I don't know much about your friends, but we are your friends now. And if anything is bothering you, you can tell me. I would like to help"

Zuko peeked at him from the corner of his eye. Sometimes he wondered at the innocence etched all over his face. Was this the person who was going to face the firelord? His father, the-baddest-man-in-the-whole-world as Sokka called him? He was just a child. Zuko could not even imagine the pain of the burden he carried within him and still—how did he always seem to have a smile on his face?

Zuko found his frustration melting away and he picked up his bowl.

"I know" he replied and found himself smiling at the bald monk. He glanced over at the rest of the group sitting a bit further away from them, his friends---

And then he saw Katara smiling at something Toph said. She looked up at him watching them and her smile faltered. She turned her back towards him pointedly; a sharp rebuke if he had ever seen one. He chuckled lightly, his heart hurting at the simple unspoken rejection.

"Are you alright?" Aang asked, concern evident in his voice.

Zuko nodded his head, not trusting himself to speak.

Friend. Even the feel of that word on his tongue felt so alien. Ever since he could remember, he did not have anyone whom he could call a friend. Lu Ten was there though...

"We need to get a good night's rest." he said to Aang, just to stop himself from thinking about Lu ten. "With the way you are getting the basics so easily, I will teach you a few advanced steps tomorrow and for that you need to get up by sunrise."

"Ok Sifu Hotman" Aang beamed. Something in Zuko’s face must have alarmed him for he hurriedly corrected himself " I mean Zuko."

Zuko shook his head, smiling, and stood up, collecting their empty bowls and headed over to Sokka, who was gathering up all the empty dishes. He walked past Teo and the duke, and unintentionally overheard them talking animatedly about the big pai sho table that they had apparently found in one of the empty rooms.

And then it struck Zuko. The thought was so sudden, that he almost stumbled in shock. How had not thought about it earlier? He could feel his heart rate spike up, as he stood rooted to the spot.

"Err... Zuko? Are you alright?" Toph's voice cut through his thoughts and he looked down at the earth bender, feeling so elated he could have almost hugged Azula.

"Yes… Yeah, I am absolutely fine" Zuko said, a big smile spreading over his face, his whole body relaxing. He heard the crash of a plate and saw Katara fumbling over to pick up the broken pieces, her face flustered.

He walked over towards the edge of the terrace and looked out over the canyon beyond, bathed in the soothing moonlight. Hope. Yes, hope that he hadn’t felt for a very long time slowly filled up his very being.

Zuko might have finally found a way to get some information about his uncle after all---

~~**~~**~~


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

Zuko was losing count of the number of times he had gone round the temple courtyard already. He could not sleep, an overwhelming restlessness consuming him. He should be out there doing something, not stuck up here in a remote temple hiding away like a coward. He viciously kicked a stone lying near his feet, its echo resounding throughout the outer room. He continued pacing the courtyard.

It was amazing what a difference an hour can make. Just an hour ago he was so full of hope, having finally figured out a way to somehow contact his uncle; or maybe even find out something about his whereabouts. And now, an hour later, he felt as if he were holding onto a straw, wretchedly trying not to drown in his own despair.

When the idea had first struck him, it had seemed almost perfect.

The Order of the White Lotus. Or was it the White Lotus Society?

He kicked out at another stone in anger. How was he supposed to find it? It was a secret society, he grimaced, the taste of defeat sour in his mouth. The idea had come to him when he had heard the mechanist's son and The Duke talking about the giant Pai Sho Table. At those words, long forgotten memories of his earth kingdom days with his uncle flooded back in his mind. The words he had spoken, so many months back, when they were in that rundown club full of filthy wanderers. _"Pai Sho is more than just a game"_

It was the White Lotus society who had helped sneak them into the walled city of Ba Sing Se. A nauseous guilt swarmed up inside him, and he was unable to stop his mind from going back to the events of that fateful day in Ba Sing Se; those memories crushing his heart with remorse yet again. That day when he had betrayed his uncle. Stop it! Zuko forcibly clutched his head in anger. Stop thinking about the past! The images of Azula's smirking face, the look on Katara's face as she held the Avatar's lifeless body in her arms, Uncle's repulsed face at him—

Frustrated, Zuko looked up at the walls of the temple. Nothing was helping; he was never any good at thinking things through and this was one time when he really needed a good plan. He kicked another stone out of his way; it rebounded off the far wall and clattered all the way down the stone steps.

"Will you stop it already?"

Zuko turned towards the voice to find Katara walking out of the shadows.

"You are making quite a racket. Everyone is trying to sleep.”

He closed his eyes, forcing himself to calm down. “I am sorry” he gritted through clenched jaw.

"Zuko...?" she asked tentatively, " What's bothering you?"

"Nothing" he replied quickly. Too quickly. He saw her eyes narrow in suspicion. 

"You are mumbling on and on about Pai Sho and white lotus for about the past 20 mins. What's going on?"

Was he really thinking out loud?

“Why do you want to know?” the words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop himself. Her eyes widened. The damage was already done, so he ploughed on. "You have been avoiding me all day, wincing every time you see my face. You think I have not noticed?"

"It’s not what you think." She replied, her voice tight with anger.

"You don’t have to pretend!” he snarled, anger making him reckless. “You don’t care! I know you hate my guts; you have made it clear every single day since I have been here.”

She opened her mouth, furious but Zuko cut her off. “Your death threats are still crystal clear in my mind so don’t worry; I am not going to hurt your precious avatar.”

“Zuko”, her voice was a low warning growl. “Stop.”

"Or what?" he challenged. He realized vaguely that he should not be doing this, he should not be saying all these words. He was going to end up ruining whatever tiny amount of acceptance the water bender had grudgingly given him. Stop, he thought to himself furiously, but the hateful words were spilling out now. “You are just looking for an opportunity to kick me out. What were you planning to do by sneaking up on me?”

He took a step towards her and immediately, he found himself flung to the wall, his wrists frozen solid to the bricks behind him. He looked at her, incredulous. The anger that had been building up inside him suddenly threatened to boil over. The chucks of ice holding his wrists immobile instantly turned into vapour with a hiss.

“Is that what you are looking for?” he snarled, “A fight?”

"No" Katara stated emphatically, “But you need to calm down.” She cautiously moved her right hand over her head in a circle and solid ice formed in her hand, covering her fingers, extending out like claws. Any other time he would have been mildly impressed, even intimidated perhaps that she could apparently pull water out of thin air, but now was not that time.

“Your words and actions contradict each other.” 

“Well, you are the one who is breathing fire out of his mouth” she pointed out, getting into a defensive stance. “How am I supposed to react to that?”

He was surprised to realize it was true; he was breathing out a steady stream of fire and his fists were clenched by his side, glowing hot with the flicker of fire wrapped around them.

"Snap out of it!" She whispered urgently, “Let’s talk about this.”

He took a few steps back, willing himself to unclench his fists, willing himself to let go of this irrational anger. "Sorry" he mumbled finally, the fire flickering out of his fists, plunging the area into sudden darkness, a darkness that even the moonlight could not seem to wash away anymore. “I shouldn’t have said all those things to you.”

He could see Katara visibly relax, her shoulders slumping in relief and the ice around her fingers evaporated. “Ok, thank you.” She replied. “And since we are being honest here, let’s stop pretending that I care. Frankly, we both know that I am doing this only for Aang’s sake.”

“Ofcourse”, he snapped. “I wouldn’t expect anything otherwise.”

"Good.” Katara grimaced. “So, for now, truce?”

It was not like Zuko had any choice. He laughed hollowly, nodding his head. “Truce.” He agreed.

“And as for why I want to know,” she continued, her eyes shining bright. “It’s because you are Aang’s fire bending teacher. And to teach him, you need a clear head. So, whatever is bothering you, you need to fix it fast.”

Zuko slumped down on to the steps, putting his arms around his knees and resting his chin on top of them. He could hear the water bender approach tentatively and take a seat next to him, keeping a safe distance. “I know it’s about you uncle.” She added, watching him.

"Yeah." he found himself replying. "I think I know where I might get some information about him, but I don't know how to find that place"

"This place has got something to do with Pai Sho and white lotus?"

"I think so. A secret society called the Order of the White Lotus. I just know that my uncle is a high-ranking member of the society." She did not say anything and Zuko took it as a sign to continue. " I think the white lotus tile is a way for the members to recognize each other.” He stopped, hesitating. This was the part where he was not sure if his logic made any sense. “They helped us once when we were in Ba Sing Se. And I think they just might be the only people who would have any sort of information—anything really, to help figure out the whereabouts of my uncle."

“Oh?” Katara raised an eyebrow. " Zuko. I think I might be able to help you"

~~**~~**~~

“So, this is what was happening last night huh?" Toph sprawled in the corner of the room, her hands behind her head. "I figured something was about to go down when Sugar Queen stalked off after Zuko, I was rather hoping for a fight.”

"Hmm" Sokka responded, his blue eyes fixed on to the white lotus tile in his hand.

It had taken quite a bit of convincing from Katara to prevent Zuko from marching up and dragging Sokka out of his sleeping bag, in the middle of the night, and he had reluctantly given in, waiting for the morning instead, which somehow never seemed to arrive.

"I had always wondered why he would give you a lotus tile" Aang was sitting to Zuko’s right, on his knees, his eyes fixed on the tile in Sokka’s hand. " It makes sense now, in a weird sort of way"

"A secret society" Sokka seemed to be in awe, his hand scratching his chin. "Well, who would have figured that one out?"

Zuko brought his hands up to his face, wearily rubbing his eyes. His brain was already too muddled up for him to form any coherent thoughts.

"So, what do you say Sokka?" Katara had her brother pinned with a pointed glare, her arms crossed across her chest.

"What do I say?" Sokka muttered, his eyes still glued on to the lotus tile. “I say this is genius!” he exclaimed, holding the lotus tile up in his hand reverently, his eyes shining.

“Not about that Sokka” Katara’s voice sounded exasperated but Zuko could see the fondness in her face. “I am talking about a plan. Do you have a plan?”

"Yes, Sokka" Aang emphasized. " You are the plan guy remember? So, do you have a plan?"

Sokka stood up on his feet, clutching the tile in his hand and looked down at the expectant faces staring up at him. "Well, from what Zuko has told us, I think Piando must have given me the lotus tile if I had to ever contact him.” He crossed his arms across his chest, an eyebrow raised and Zuko was forcibly reminded of Katara.

"The only problem is, he stays in the fire nation.” Sokka deflated, a worried frown replacing his earlier enthusiasm. “I do not think it is a good idea to go back to the fire nation. Not so soon after our invasion failed,” he faltered for a moment, cleared his throat and continued. “Anyway, Azula must be lying in wait for us. One way or the other, walking back into the fire nation would seem pretty suicidal right now."

"None of you have to come with me" Zuko rasped, appalled. "I am doing this on my own."

"Don' be an idiot" Toph adjusted herself into a sitting position. "We do not do things alone here. Better get used to it.”

"It’s not that" Zuko snapped. “I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me. Not again"

Sokka gave him a weird look, and he Aang stood up from beside him.

"No one is going to get hurt Zuko" Aang said, his voice firm. " We are not letting you do this alone. Remember, you are a fugitive, just like the rest of us. The fire nation must already be searching high and low for you. If you are going to contact Piandao, you will need help."

"Sokka" Katara walked up to her brother. "I know you can come up with a plan."

Sokka flipped the tile over in his hands, again and again, his face thoughtful. An almost expectant hush fell over them, everyone holding their breath, waiting for Sokka to say something. Zuko hesitated; uncomfortable. Uncle was his concern, he needed to find him, he needed to look out for him, and he definitely did not want to drag down everyone else with him. It was too risky.

Sokka took a deep breath and released it, as if he were getting ready to say something against his better judgment.

"Ok. First, let me be clear that we cannot plan for everything. Sometimes we must play it by ear. All I can suggest is that we go back to the fire nation and infiltrate the city under the cover of the night. We take Appa till we are about a mile away from the fire nation. Then we go on foot from there. It will take us about a couple of hours to reach Piandao’s mansion.”

Turning to Zuko, he continued. "After getting hold of my master, you will ask whatever you have to ask and then we will have to get back to the spot where we left Appa. If everything goes fine, we should be back by tomorrow morning."

He scratched his head, his eyes unfocused on Appa. "Provided everything goes right and we manage to sneak in quietly even though there must be thousands of soldiers patrolling the boundary of the cities, not to mention what your sister might have planned."

"We have to take the risk" Toph agreed but before she could complete her sentence, Zuko was on his feet yet again, anger bubbling over _yet again_.

"No." he snarled. "None of you is going to take any risk. I am not going to let you all risk yourselves for me. This is something I will have to do on my own"

"Actually" Katara said slowly, scratching her chin in a manner identical to her brother. "All of us don't have to get involved."

"What do you mean?" Aang asked.

"For one thing, we can't risk you Aang. Not now, not so soon after Azula and Fire Lord Ozai just having found out the truth about your ‘demise’.”

"What?! No!" Aang looked furious but Zuko couldn’t help the sigh of relief at Katara’s words.

"Katara is right twinkle toes.” Toph interjected. “You are definitely out of the picture in this case."

Sokka glanced at his sister, then towards Zuko. "You know Katara, you are right. Aang does not need to be involved here. Toph, I think you need to stay back too."

"What?" Toph snapped sharply. " No way Snoozles!”

"Think logically here Toph" Sokka said, patiently. "Your feet are still healing. Plus, it is only one night. We all cannot just go barging into the fire nation whenever we want."

Before Toph could say anything further, Sokka hurried on. "That leaves me and Katara." He pointed to Zuko. "You are going to need me. I know the area and I doubt Piandao would listen to you, traitor as you are now.” Sokka winced. “No offence”, he added lamely. 

Zuko glared at him, defeated by logic.

"And we need another bender with us, someone who is more powerful at night." He turned to look at Katara and she beamed at him.

“Your plan sucks” Toph muttered.

“I know,” Sokka agreed. “There is really no plan.”

"I still think I need to come." Aang protested.

Katara walked up to him and placed her hands on his shoulders gently. " I know you want to help Aang, but believe me, we can manage this on our own."

"But what if something goes wrong? What if you get hurt?"

"There is no guarantee that things won't go wrong. But I would like you to have a bit more confidence in your water bending teacher to be able to take care of herself."

Aang looked at her with large eyes and Zuko turned away, suddenly feeling as if he was intruding on their personal space. He glanced at Sokka instead and nodded his head as the water tribe warrior gave him a small smile.

“You are not going to protest?"

"Will it do me any good if I do?" he asked, unable to keep the weariness out of his voice.

"Actually... No" Sokka agreed.

"Then I am not going to protest.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I think I will take Uncle's advice for once in my life and not let my pride get in the way of asking for help."

Sokka looked impressed. "You know Zuko, I think I am really going to like you after all"

Almost reluctantly, Zuko could feel himself smiling, a tiny flicker of hope rising in his chest. " _There is nothing wrong with letting the people who love you help you"_

Well, they are not people who love him or even care for him, reluctant allies at best. But for now, he would take it.

~~**~~**~~

There was a strange prickling at the back of his neck, as if someone were watching him. Zuko turned around sharply to find himself face to face with Katara. For a moment neither of them spoke. Zuko blinked stupidly, wondering for a moment if she had come back to threaten him once again before they leave on their mission. Was she worried that he was going to abandon them and run? Katara let out a small huff of air and walked into his room, heading towards the window. Zuko watched her, confused.

"You know" she finally spoke up, her back towards him. "You were actually the first person who I thought really understood how I felt about losing my mother." The slight breeze blowing in from the open window ruffled her hair and her hand reached up to her throat, touching the necklace.

"So, I know.” She continued. “And I just wanted you to know." She turned to face him finally, a hesitant smile on her face. “I understand how you feel about your Uncle. And though I hate you, I still want to help find your uncle. He is a good man.”

“Yeah” he nodded, “He is.”

A curt nod of acknowledgment from her and she walked out the door. "Come on, we have to go. Sokka is waiting for us."

Grabbing his swords, he followed her out of his room.

"I am not going to let you go alone" Aang's shrill voice greeted him as he made his way to the courtyard.

"Aapa will be perfectly fine Aang. It’s just for one night" Sokka sounded tired, and when Zuko came up the corner, he saw the water tribe warrior standing with his hands on his hips, an exasperated look on his face. "I don't think its a good idea…" Aang just ignored him, jumped up on top of Aapa’s head and held on to the reins.

"Don't worry Sokka. I will just fly you guys and be back with Aapa."

Sokka looked conflicted, but Katara just marched up to them and climbed up Appa’s side, settling down in the middle of the saddle.

"I still don't know Aang… "

"Come on guys. What harm can it do? I am not even going into the fire nation." He looked at Sokka hopefully. " I will fly Aapa and then come back to get you guys by tomorrow morning."

"Let him go Sokka" Toph drawled, cracking her fingers and walking up to where Zuko was standing. " It’s no big deal."

Sokka glanced from Aang to Toph and back again, flung his hands up in defeat and picked up his machete. "Ok. You win. Let's get going then." Scowling, he climbed up the saddle and sat down next to his sister.

"Good luck Zuko" Toph thumped him heartily on his back, almost sending him crashing to his knees.

"Aapa Yip Yip" Aang yelled and the giant bison leapt up into the air with a roar.

"Ok guys" Sokka turned towards Katara and Zuko as the clouds slowly covered them up, Aapa having flown straight into them. “I don’t have to tell you this, but we need to be extra careful; and we watch each other’s backs. No taking unnecessary risks. And if I say leave, we leave. If I say stop, we stop.” Katara looked as if she was going to object but a sharp look from Sokka silenced her and she reluctantly nodded. “This is a simple task: sneak in, talk, sneak out. No need to bring undue attention to ourselves. We take advantage of the night and blend in with the shadows.”

“Toph was right.” Zuko muttered. “This is a horrible idea.”

"Don't worry Zuko" Katara reassured him, her face confident. "We always make horrible ideas work."

Zuko did not know whether he should laugh or cry. It was probably too late for either.

"Zuko, just so we are clear.” Sokka interrupted his thoughts. “We are doing this for Iroh. He saved Aang and my sister that night in Ba Sing Se, and I will do whatever I can to make sure he is alright. We owe him that much.”

The best thing to do would be to shut up, Zuko decided. So that was what he did for the rest of the journey, watching the clouds fluttering by and resolutely ignoring the panic growing inside him the closer they got to their destination. They are all going to get killed and he was the one dragging them to their doom. He squirmed uncomfortably but before he could voice his concerns again, Aang shouted out.

"We are here guys." Appa slowly descended from the air and landed gently into a clearing in the middle of what looked like a small forest. Sokka jumped down, slinging his sword onto his waist, and grabbing the machete with his right hand; followed by Katara, who had been strangely quiet throughout the journey. Zuko jumped down next to her, making sure he had his swords on his back as Aang gently floated down next to them.

"Listen everyone" he said, his voice firm. "As promised, I will be back here at this same place tomorrow morning right before the sun rises. If, by chance I do not find you guys waiting for me, I am going to go in looking for you."

"No Aang" Katara gasped, her face suddenly twisted with worry. “You will do no such thing!"

"I cannot promise you that Katara. I don't care even if Ozai is waiting for me at the end; if I don't find you guys here tomorrow morning, I'm going in"

"I will make sure nothing happens to them" Zuko gave him a small bow. " You have my word"

"It’s not just them I am worried about Zuko! You are one of us too. I don't want anything to happen to any of you."

Zuko recognized a losing battle when he saw one and apparently so did Katara, for she was speaking to Aang next. "All right Aang. But wait for at least an hour and think before you make any rash decisions. Promise me."

Aang looked conflicted for a few seconds but then slowly nodded his head. He bowed to them, jumped back on Aapa and with a last look at Katara yelled "Aapa Yip Yip". Within minutes the giant bison disappeared into the evening sky, which was slowly turning inky black.

They looked at each other silently for a moment, then Sokka gestured with his head towards his left before holding his machete tightly and making his way into the forest. Zuko exhaled slowly, nodded to himself once and fell in step behind Katara who had already walked ahead of him, keeping pace with her brother. Zuko turned back once, looked up at the moon in the night sky, before pulling the hood up to cover his hair and his scar.

It was going to be another long night.

~~**~~**~~

They had been walking for nearly an hour by now, the only sound that could be heard was the swish of Sokka's machete as he cleared a path through the forest for them, and the snapping of the leaves and twigs beneath their feet. The tension was palpable, falling over them like a thick blanket, the awareness and anticipation of danger so sharp that Zuko felt he could almost touch it with hands. He brought up the rear, his eyes carefully scanning their surroundings, looking for – he did not exactly know what he was looking for.

Now that he had had a bit more time to think about it, the uncertainty and mild panic was back. The variables involved in it were too random to be anticipated and it was frightening to think of the number of things that could go wrong. He peered at the water tribe siblings walking in front of him, guilt assaulting him yet again.

Unable to keep his doubts to himself any longer, Zuko blurted out "Maybe we should stop and think about it some more?”

Sokka let out a yelp and jumped almost a foot in the air, taking out his sword with his left hand in one fluid motion as he stumbled around to face him. Before he could even react, a water whip came out of nowhere and smacked him painfully onto the side of his head. Zuko staggered back, blinking his eyes in surprise, feeling the cold water drip through his hair onto his clothes.

"Zuko!" Katara hissed, letting go of her bending stance. "What's the big idea startling me like that?" she snapped, bending the water out of his robes with a careless flick of her wrist.

“Spirits! you almost gave me a heart attack!" Sokka whimpered weakly, his sword dangling by one hand and the other hand clutched across his chest, his face drained out of color. "You are lucky I didn't take a swing at you! I could have taken your head off!"

"Sorry" Zuko mumbled, feeling a bit stupid. He nervously ran his fingers through my hair, checking to see if it was dry. Katara gave him an angry glare and turned back, pulling the water back into her pouch.

“Keep moving" she snapped "We are almost at the outskirts of the town where Piandao lives"

"Didn't you hear me?" Zuko asked, a bit annoyed at being ignored.

"Yes, we heard you Zuko" Sokka whacked a dangling sapling out of his way with the machete and stepped over it. " Even if it is a fool's errand, there is no turning back now. We considered all the possibilities before setting out. We are going to see this through, no matter what"

Zuko sighed inwardly, decided to give up, and continued walking. The moon illuminated the area around them in a silver glow.

"Guys?" Sokka stopped in front. "We are here.” Zuko slouched forward, bending down beside a big boulder where the water tribe siblings were waiting for him. They cautiously peered above the rock and could clearly see the city gates in front of them. Surprisingly, they was open. "Why is no one guarding the gate?" Zuko asked, unsettled.

"They normally don't" Sokka muttered. "There are guards inside the city though, but I don't think it will be any problem. After all we are dressed in fire nation clothes and I don’t see any reason for them to suspect us."

"I don't like it" Zuko tensed up next to them. " I would have expected Azula to place guards all over the city and town entrances, now that she knows the avatar is alive. Finding one with the gates open seems quite ominous"

"You think it’s a trap?" Katara asked, chewing her bottom lip distractedly.

"How can it be a trap?" Sokka asked. "Azula doesn't know that we are coming back to this particular town. She doesn’t know about Piandao. So, unless she knew our every move, including the ones that we had not originally planned about, I don't think we should worry too much."

Zuko looked back at the gate, it was still about 40 to 50 feet away from them.

"Ok." He found himself saying. "Let's go then."

No sooner had they stepped out of the forest, that a tiny glitter in one of the tree branches caught his attention. A split second of horror washed through him at the instant realization of what it was. He opened his mouth to shout out a warning but before he could get the words out, a smooth swishing sound cut through the silence surrounding them, followed by a dull thunk, and something pierced onto the side of the tree trunk behind him, mere centimeters away from where his head was a few seconds ago.

Sokka gaped at him, his mouth hanging open at the vibrating arrow which was now lodged firmly into the wood.

"Run!" Zuko shouted, instinctively dragging Katara along with him. They made a mad dash back into the forest from where they had stepped out of just a few minutes ago. Arrows were flying everywhere, the sound of the sharp projectiles nearly blotting out their frantic footsteps. Zuko knew they could not dodge them all and try to run at the same time. Behind him, he could hear Sokka taking out his boomerang and flinging it through the air. An echoing clunk reverberated throughout the forest and an archer slid down from one of the trees, crumpling on the forest floor, unconscious.

The Yu Yen archers.

Heart thundering in his eardrums, he let go of Katara's hand and drew out his dual swords. Firmly setting his feet down, he swung his swords around in a circling motion, fending off one arrow after another, headed towards them. He could hear Sokka hacking through the arrows next to him with his sword, the three of them being pushed back into the center. Using the blades to channel his fire with more control, he leapt in the air, bringing the swords down in a graceful arc, creating a huge wall of fire around them. Some of the arrows instantly disintegrated into ash, the roaring flames incinerating them.

Zuko knew they had to do something. And fast. The Yu Yen Archers were legendary for their precision and accuracy, not to mention their camouflaging skills. The moon was the only source of light, and it would become more and more difficult to figure out the location of the archers, the longer this drew on. He did not want to think of the disaster it could become if the archers managed to solidify their upper hand. Not that it mattered much, he thought grimly; right now, they were already sitting turtleducks.

“We need to take them out.” Sokka shouted next to him. “They will just chase us down if we run. We have to make a stand here.”

Zuko saw an arrow fly out from the nearest tree to his right and instinctively he dodged it, shooting out a flame in the direction of the tree, cutting off the bow string of one archer. Beside him, he could see Katara flinging out ice daggers in a haphazard circle around them, which were colliding with the arrows in midair, changing off their flight paths.

"Katara!" Sokka yelled at his sister. "Provide us with some more cover."

Katara spread out her arms and whirled around in a furious circle. For a moment, Zuko’s vision was completely obstructed as suddenly, a huge wave of water whipped up from the grass beneath their feet, the ground turning soot black in the moonlight. From the corner of his eyes, he could see her clawing her fingers and with a cry, she suddenly swung her arms out. Abruptly, the air around them filled up with thousands of ice daggers, flying out in a vicious circle from around them, colliding with the arrows and some of them embedding themselves in the tree trunks. The sound of the bamboo bowstrings snapping, and cracking could be heard among the showering rain of ice and arrows.

Sokka and him stepped in closer towards Katara. As soon as they got to her side, Katara pulled some more water out of the surrounding vegetation and instantly created a thick wall of ice in front of them, shielding them from the remaining few archers. Zuko estimated there were at least three active archers left, judging from the direction of the arrows and the frequency at which they were being slunged towards them; and all of them in front of the ice wall.

Sokka knelt next to him, Katara keeping the wall up even as arrow after arrow thudded onto the solid pane of ice, creating splitting cracks, which were slowly spreading out like a spiderweb.

"There are three more" Zuko hissed. "We need to take them out before they surround us from the back"

"How do we figure out where they are?" Sokka asked, a slight note of panic in his voice, his eyes straying over to the ice wall which was barely holding.

"I know of a way." Zuko nodded, getting up on his feet. "Watch my back."

Sokka gripped his sword tightly and stood next to Zuko, swatting away at a couple of arrows that headed towards them.

Katara grunted, concentrating hard on keeping the wall up. Zuko closed his eyes, bringing back all the trainings that his uncle had imparted into him throughout the course of his futile attempt at restoring his honor. He could almost hear his voice in his head. “The key to being a master is not just being able to shoot fire out of your fingertips. It is about being aware of your surroundings and being able to tune out of one sense and tune into another. We are dependent on sight so much, that we tend to underestimate the importance of our ears. Listen Prince Zuko, listen to your surroundings, tune in and hone your sense of sound and then you will realize what a strength it really is."

Slowly, the sounds around him started getting more and more distinct. He could hear the clear swish of the arrows hitting the wall, Sokka's breathing and the sound of Katara's billowing robes. He furrowed his eyebrows, forcing himself to tune on to the slight sound of the bowstrings' twang as they released the arrows. And all of a sudden, he could hear it.

“I found them.” He declared; his eyes still closed. “Shoot where I point.”

“Katara, let go.” Sokka yelled and instantly, Katara melted the wall protecting them from the arrows.

"There" he pointed to his right, flinging a small fire dagger to light the way and he could feel a sharp flick of the boomerang cutting through the air, followed by the satisfying sound of a body thudding to the ground. He shot a flame to his left, pointing instantly to the second archer and Sokka let out a triumphant yell, followed by the sound of a bowstring snapping into two. Katara’s ice dagger found the third one and he opened his eyes to see the archer sliding down the branches onto the forest floor in a heap.

A heavy silence hung around them, the air smelling of burnt, wet mud. They looked at each other, too stunned to speak.

Finally, Sokka let out a strangled gasp:

" I guess you know your sister too well"

~~**~~**~~


	3. Chapter 3

Zuko carefully peeked around the next corner, silently surveying the area. Satisfied, he raised his hand and beckoned them forward. After the ambush, they were all on edge, eyes darting furtively; every shadow looked alive, as if the silhouettes were watching their every move, waiting to pounce.

“Why are we alive?” Katara whispered, crouching up next to him, breathing hard.

“Because Azula wanted us alive.”

“Are we sure it’s Azula?” Sokka did not look happy.

Zuko looked at him, furious. “Who else can it be?”

A defeated sigh. “Great.”

Zuko knew it was only a matter of time before Azula found out they were there. The sense of urgency to find the master and get out of there had increased ten-fold since they made their way back from the forest and sneaked in through the open gates. He was not sure if he was ready to face Azula yet; for wherever there was Azula, Mai was close behind and Mai— his heart gave a painful lurch at her thought and he shook his head, trying not to think about her.

Sokka stood up cautiously next to him, took a quick look and then dashed forward to conceal himself in the darkness of an old antique shop, pressing himself up against the wall. If Zuko squinted his eyes, he could see Sokka’s faint outline in the shadows and he waited for the signal, for Sokka to raise his hand to give the ‘all clear’. His eyes had just gotten adjusted to the blackness of the night when he saw the dark outline raise its right hand. Zuko gave a quick jerk of his head towards Katara to indicate their next move, but just as he was about to take a step forward to follow, Sokka frantically started waving his hand, signaling them to stop and stay back.

Zuko sank back into the shadows quietly, Katara crouching down next to him. She opened her mouth to say something and Zuko put his finger against his lips, indicating for her to stay quiet. She shut her mouth and scooched closer. 

And that’s when they heard it; a gentle cough about a few feet away from them. Zuko could see him clearly now; a city guard sitting on the wooden steps of the shop, fanning himself with some sort of a parchment. He could feel Sokka darting anxious glances at them and Zuko wondered grimly on how to proceed next. Trying to weigh in his options, he decided there was only one way out: they would have to backtrack and go around the back of the shop.

Right, he nodded to himself. He turned back to gesture to Katara to follow him, when unexpectedly, a small gust of wind blew past his face, tousling his hair. He blinked in surprise, barely registering the dull thud of a body thumping onto the ground. Bewildered, he turned back to find the soldier slumped on to the wooden planks, eyes wide in shock, the moonlight glinting off the ice around his mouth, wrists, and ankles.

Katara still had her hand raised in midair, a hint of impatience around her.

“What?” she hissed.

Zuko realized his mouth was hanging open. He quickly shut it.

“Why did you do that?” Sokka whispered urgently once they met up with him on the other side of the shop. "It is dangerous! We are trying to sneak in!"

"You think they don't know already?" Katara whispered back, incensed. "Its best we take them out before they strike at us again!"

“What if he was a fire bender?” Sokka gaped, incredulous. “We are not even halfway to Piandao’s house! Do you want every guard in the city to know we are here?”

“What’s done is done” Zukko said quickly, trying to calm them both down before they started raising their voices in anger. “We will need to tie him up though and hide him away before anyone else notices." Katara scowled at them both but did not say anything.

Zuko cautiously crept back towards the fidgeting soldier, Sokka following close behind, muttering furiously to himself about crazy water benders. The guard stared back at them with fearful eyes. With an apologetic murmur, he hauled the man up by his arms, Sokka taking hold of his legs.

"Yuck!" Sokka winced in disgust, crinkling his nose and turning his face away. " Does this guy ever wash his feet?"

Katara rolled her eyes.

They half carried, half dragged the terrified guard over to the back of the store, dropping him down unceremoniously onto a heap of old junk lying around the shop’s backyard. “Right, now we need to tie him up”, Sokka mumbled, stumbling back from the guard, trying to get some clean air. Katara was already silently rummaging through the yard and she held out some tattered ropes in her hand.

“It’s not going to hold him for long” Sokka whispered, frowning at the frayed ends of the rope. Zuko shrugged, taking the rope from Katara’s hand, and bent down to tie the man securely. Without a word, Katara handed over an old piece of rag, nodded at him and then instantly melted the ice away.

“Whaa-!” The guard gasped out loud but couldn’t complete the sentence for Sokka had thrown himself on the man and clamped his forearm around the guard’s neck in a chokehold, holding steady even as the man tried to struggle, wheezing to breathe. Zuko took that opportunity to immediately stuff the filthy piece of rag inside the guard’s mouth and Sokka let go; the guard tumbling over painfully on to the ground.

Katara threw an old rug over him. "Let's go"

The moon was shining bright and the shadows of the trees danced around them in the breeze as they silently made their way uphill, dodging in and out of the darkness, slipping and hiding in dark alleys, keeping an eye out for guards, and stopping every now and then to make sure no one was following them. Pretty soon, Zuko could see the still outline of the mansion; a gigantic monolith structure looming in the distance, looking subdued in the moonlit night. Immediately, a shiver ran down his spine- a sense of foreboding taking root inside him slowly. 

"Almost there" Katara breathed behind him. Zuko continued to stare, transfixed. Something was telling him not to step forward, not to get inside the house, to stay away. He hesitated, his eyes fixed on the huge mansion gates up ahead, when all of a sudden, strong hands grasped him by the collar of his robes and painfully yanked him back. He stumbled, letting out a yelp of surprise but Sokka roughly put his hand around his mouth, shushing him. Zuko gawked at him with wide eyes, realizing that Sokka had dragged him into a side alley and had him pressed against the wall. He tried to breathe around the hand clamped shut against his nose and mouth and weakly tapped at Sokka’s arm, signaling him to let go. Sokka gave him an apologetic look and slowly removed his hand. “Sorry” he whispered. “We think we saw someone.”

Zuko nodded. Katara had her back turned towards them and was carefully peeking out from the alley. She walked back towards them, her face grim. “Two guards” she whispered. “On top of the raised platform overlooking the gates.”

"Since when did Piando have guards?" Sokka asked, a worried look on his face. His hand was still holding onto Zuko’s shoulder firmly and Zuko grimaced a bit at the pain shooting up his numb shoulder at Sokka’s sudden death grip.

"Sokka?" Zuko asked tentatively, trying to dislodge his grip. Sokka seemed to snap back to attention and immediately removed his hand.

“Sorry” Sokka muttered. “This doesn't seem right. Are they Piando's guards or is he being held hostage?" The worry in his voice made Zuko hesitate a bit, uneasy thoughts of the White Lotus Society being ambushed and held captive by Azula and the Fire Lord suddenly making their way into his mind.

"So, what should we do?" Katara asked, biting her lower lip worriedly. 

"Only one way to find out." Zuko replied. "We need to take them down and get inside."

Sokka glanced towards the road, brows frowned in thought. The soft breeze had suddenly picked up speed just then, its strong gust ripping off a torn piece of paper from one of the shops and whipping it in the alley they were standing at. Zuko instinctively reached out and caught it, only to find his face staring back at him from the ‘Wanted’ poster. He stared at it, shocked- the word ‘Traitor’ was stamped across his scarred face.

“Well, they didn’t waste any time, did they?” Katara sneered, looking down at the poster in Zuko’s hand. Before he could say anything, she grabbed the flyer out of his hand and ripped it carefully into precise tiny pieces and nonchalantly tossed them in the air.

Zuko went completely still, his heart hammering in disbelief.

“What?” Katara hissed savagely. Zuko shook his head, not trusting himself to speak.

"I thought the whole point of sneaking in” Sokka cut in, completely disregarding the sudden tense atmosphere around them as he continued- “was to go undetected without alerting anyone else of our presence.” He sighed dramatically, waving his hands around. “If we had to take down so many soldiers, we could have just kicked the front door down and stormed in with Aang and Toph in tow.”

"We can try sneaking in from the back..." Katara suggested weekly.

"We would have to go all the way back and take the other path." Zuko pointed out. "We don't have time for this. We need to get out before Azula comes shooting lightning at all of us.”

Zuko watched Sokka- indecision, reluctance and finally acceptance flickering over his face. When Sokka nodded his head, the frown on his face clearly indicated that he was agreeing to it against his better judgment.

"All right." Sokka sighed. "We do it your way."

The three of them silently moved forward. Peering out from the alley, Zuko could now see the silhouette of the guards on top of the watchtowers and he wondered fleetingly how he could have missed them the first time. Shaking his head, he slowly slid outside, keeping to the shadow and he could feel the water tribe siblings following him. After what seemed like hours, but couldn't have been more than fifteen minutes; they finally managed to reach the compound wall surrounding the house. The watchtower was just a few feet ahead of them.

"Ok" Zuko whispered, looking back at Sokka next to him. " I am going to climb up that guard tower. You take down the other one. And Katara, watch our backs.”

They both nodded at him and without a word, Zuko ran ahead, under the cover of the wall. He couldn’t help the tiny smile that flitted across his face- it felt so familiar, he mused. He had done this so many times before under the guise of the Blue Spirit that it was almost second nature for him to move around without making a sound. He quickly reached the base of the first guard tower and took a running leap across the wall, he scaled the tower silently and came up behind the guard. The guard didn't even make a sound as the hilt of Zuko’s sword smashed across the back of the guard’s head and he silently slumped towards the floor. Zuko caught him before he could hit the floor and carefully laid him on his back. The last thing he wanted was to make any unnecessary noise and potentially warn someone else to come investigating.

Zuko stood up and took a brief look around. From the tower and he could see Katara's shadow right at the place where they had left her. He glanced over at the other guard tower only to find Sokka soundlessly waving his arms at him.

Sokka was good, Zuko admitted to himself grudgingly. 

Sokka had already started climbing down the second guard tower and was heading towards Zuko. Zuko nudged the unconscious guard with his foot before taking a coil of rope tied to the guard's belt and tied him securely to the wooden pillar, looking up just in time to see Sokka climbing up the last few steps and coming over to stand beside Zuko. They both look down at the guard.

“We need to open the gate to let Katara in” Zuko whispered.

By the time they managed to get the gate open for Katara, she was already standing outside. Zuko couldn’t help noticing the determined expression on her face, her eyes shining with a single minded intent- and something about how unflinchingly resolute she was in getting through with their mission made Zuko feel reassured – a strange sense of calm and purpose falling over him.

“What?” Katara spat, glaring at him.

“Nothing” Zuko smiled slowly.

Katara huffed impatiently and looked away. 

~~**~~**~~

"This doesn't look right" Sokka whispered next to her and Katara looked up towards the mansion worriedly. The three of them were crouching behind a tall bush in the front courtyard and for once Katara had to agree with Sokka's instincts. The mansion looked deserted; not only was the garden unkempt and overgrown with weeds and wild grass, but also the whole house was hauntingly dark, with an air of danger hanging over it.

Katara could feel Zuko shift beside her. The cold wind picked another gust of sudden speed and from somewhere within the house, the sound of a window slamming shut reverberated through the air. Katara shivered; the night was getting colder and it had started getting a lot windier than it was a few minutes ago. A feeling of dread takes hold of her. Without her permission.

Something was definitely not right, she knew it the moment she saw the guards up the towers. She craned her neck, trying to get a better look and without really thinking about it, she stood on her knees but was immediately pulled back by a strong hand.

"What are you doing?" Zuko hissed in her ear.

"I am trying to take a better look." Katara replied sharply, swatting his hand off her.

"Or making it easier for them to have a better look at us." He snapped back, a hint of irritation seeping into his voice. Katara glared at him, biting back a retort as he looked away from her and turned his gaze back towards the silent house.

"So, are we ready?" Sokka asked her, tearing his eyes off the mansion.

"We have come this far." she replied slowly. "There is no turning back now."

Sokka nodded his head, determined. Zuko however, didn’t respond. He was still staring at the house.

"Let's go in then." Sokka silently took his sword out of the scabbard.

"Wait!" Zuko’s voice cracked sharply in the air. Even though he had only spoken out in a whisper, it still made Katara go still; her heart beating in sudden fear. She ducked back behind the bush.

"What is it?" Sokka’s jaw was tensed and he quickly glanced over Zuko's shoulder towards the house.

"I think I saw someone on the roof." Zuko whispered back and a chill that had nothing to do with the cold wind, ran down Katara’s spine.

"The archers?" She raised her eyebrow. She squinted towards the roof but all she could see was the darkness cast by the shadows of the long willow trees behind the house, the branches of the trees swaying in the wind in an eerie dance. Zuko turned back towards them and they huddled close together; Katara could only hope that the bush they were hiding behind was providing them enough cover from whoever it was that might be keeping watch over the property.

"It might be a Yu Yen Archer." Zuko slowly weighed his words. " Or it might be some Dai Li agent. I didn't get a good enough look to be sure about it."

"What I don't understand..." Sokka muttered thoughtfully, running his hand through his hair- " is why they are here?" His eyes looked suspicious as he scanned their faces. "As far as I know, Master Piandao is a respected member of the Fire Nation. He doesn't have ‘wanted’ posters of him all over. Then why him? Does Azula know about the White Lotus Society?”

"Would she?" Katara couldn’t help the tiny flare of anger that stabbed through her. "I highly doubt it. Maybe it’s a precautionary measure from her side, to keep an eye on all the high-level society members after the war. After all, Zuko’s uncle escaped and maybe she thinks he might reach out to one of his older associates? She just got lucky with this house. I doubt what she is doing has anything to do with the white lotus.”

A flicker of indecision wavered through Zuko’s face and he opened his mouth to say something.

"No." Katara said sharply and Zuko reluctantly closed his mouth. "We are going in with you and you cannot say a word to change our minds."

"Are you still going on about it?" Sokka asked, exasperated.

Zuko looked mutinous, anger shimmering over him for a few long seconds before he let out a tense breath and shrugged his shoulders. " All right then. Let's go in.”

"There is a secret entrance over on the south wing of the building." Sokka nodded. "Right at the next corner." He pointed his finger over Zuko's shoulder and Katara turned to look where he was pointing at. It wasn’t possible to discern anything in the darkness. “Follow my lead.”

Without another word, Sokka streaked out of the bush and silently made his way forward, hiding in the shadows. Katara followed next, careful to conceal herself in the darkness, her eyes fixed on the faint outline of her brother as she noiselessly moved forward. Sokka had stopped and Katara came up to him in the next bush and crouched down to wait for Zuko to catch up. The house was now just a few feet in front of her, the tall looming walls which looked menacing outside, looking much more intimidating from nearby.

"Did you notice any movement?" Zuko knelt behind her.

Katara shook her head no.

With a silent nod, Sokka slowly crept out, making a dash for the corner, and disappearing in the darkness within seconds.

Katara could tell that Zuko was still hesitating a bit but he thankfully didn’t try to argue this time. Something about the apprehension that seemed to have plagued him from the very beginning, the sense of misgiving and the fear of messing up- it made her want to reassure him that everything would work out. A strong overwhelming need to wipe away any and every doubt that he had about their mission swept through her.

When Zuko moved forward, taking a step to follow Sokka, Katara reached out and grasped his hand. Zuko’s head snapped back in shock, and he gaped at his hand, where Katara’s fingers were now tightly wrapped around his wrist. Katara waited for him to focus on her face and when he did, she nodded her head slowly, pulling his hand, indicating for him to come closer. Confused, Zuko knelt next to her.

“Listen” Katara started slowly. “Very carefully, because I won’t say this again.” 

Zuko didn’t respond.

“We are going to get your uncle back.” Katara said with as much conviction as she could gather. “No matter what, we are going to do this. So, don’t doubt yourself another second. Or us.” Katara held on, her face grim. “You never give up. That’s who you are. And that’s who we need you to be.”

She released his hand. “Whatever happens, we survive together.”

Zuko blinked. Then he dipped his head towards her in acknowledgement and the next instant, he was back on his feet and had disappeared into the darkness, following the way Sokka had gone.

~~**~~**~~

"So where is it?" Katara whispered to Sokka, who was standing next to her, his back pressed against the wall of the south wing. As far as she could see, there was no door. It all looked like a solid wall of concrete to her, with not even a window to sneak inside. Zuko was standing about a foot away on Sokka's left. It was too dark to see clearly; even the moonlight was not able to filter through the heavy leaves of the tall Willow trees. The hoot of a night owl broke the unnerving silence and Katara clutched her robes tighter, ignoring the wind.

"It's right here somewhere," Sokka whispered, his face so close that Katara could almost feel his breath on her forehead. "It's a secret door; an entrance that I accidently stumbled upon the day Piandao was attacking me."

Zuko arched an eyebrow.

"It's a long story." Sokka replied offhandedly and Katara could almost see a faint trace of an amused smile on Zuko's face.

"There is a switch, behind a false brick in the wall." Sokka continued. "If you press it, a door slides open over here." He pointed over to a moss covered well and Katara’s eyes fell on the huge oak tree right beside the well, near the wall of the house.

"You sure you remember where this brick is?" Katara asked him, her confidence in finding their way inside the mansion somehow dwindling a bit.

"I do!” Sokka squaked indignantly. “You both wait here and keep a lookout." He moved away before Katara could say anything more. She watched him, her eyes never leaving his outline till he reached the wall. Katara’s body was tense, her eyes glued to their surroundings for any other sign of movement, her hands hovering over her water skin. Zuko was so silent next to her that for a few seconds, she almost forgot about him.

Suddenly, a small faint sound of wood being drawn apart reached her ears and her eyes snapped back towards the wall behind the oak tree. At first, she couldn’t discern anything but then there was a clear dark shadow on the wall, too rectangular to be cast by any tree nearby.

"Let's go." Zuko led the way towards where Sokka was standing. Katara noticed how he kept glancing towards the roof every now and then even as they made their way forward.

"Where does this lead to?" Zuko carefully stepped over the roots of the Oak tree.

"Right into the main chamber. " Sokka cautiously touched the wide-open rectangular space in the wall. He ducked inside and disappeared from view, followed by Zuko, Katara bringing up the rear. If it was dark outside, this was like stepping into pure blackness. She couldn’t see a thing, not even her hands when she tried to wave them slowly in front of her eyes. In fact, it was so dark that for a disturbing moment, she was not even sure whether her eyes were open anymore.

A glimmer of panic flared through her, but then suddenly, there was brightness. Katara raised her hand to shield her eyes from the unexpected light. She peered over her arm to find Zuko standing in front of her, a tiny flame of fire in his palm. The sudden panic vanished instantly, and she exhaled, the tension seeping away once she could see Sokka standing next to him, looking at her over Zuko's shoulder.

"It's like a short tunnel." Sokka explained, his voice loud enough for her to hear. "It ends right in the next turn and opens into the main chamber."

They made their way silently. Zuko had one hand holding onto the hilt of his sword on his back and the other hand in front, with the flickering flame lighting their way.

They must have walked for at least a minute when Sokka suddenly flung his right arm out and stopped them. “You better put out the flame." He said to Zuko and instantly, Zuko closed his palm and snuffed the flames out. Through the darkness however, this time Katara could see a flicker of moonlight right behind Sokka. "We are here."

Katara carefully walked out of the short tunnel, the soft glow of the moonlight filtering into the room through the massive windows suddenly seeming gaudily bright after the inky blackness of the passage. It was eerily quiet in the room, everything silently still and it seemed as if even the wind was afraid to come in through the cracks, howling outside the walls instead. Katara knew immediately that this was the same room where Piandao had presented Sokka with his sword, the last day of his training. 

Zuko had both his swords out and was surveying the room. Sokka walked over to the far corner to approach a table, which Katara could see was piled up with parchments and she wondered what they were going to do next. Her thoughts were abruptly broken when she felt a sudden movement right behind her. In that split second, she could see Zuko stiffen in front of her and before she could even blink, Zuko was a blur, moving so fast that his sword singed through the air as it raced towards her head.

Katara closed her eyes and immediately dropped to her knees, turned to the side, and scrambled on to her feet, the water already forming a whip under her command. The resounding clang of two swords clashing together echoed through the still air. Sparks flew from the swords, glinting bright in the moonlight and then Zuko was dueling a figure cloaked in black, their swords moving so fast that Katara could hardly keep track of the movements with her eyes.

She clenched her hands, the water forming into ice around her fingers, waiting for any opening where she would be able to strike. And that opening presented itself the very next moment, when Zuko suddenly dropped down, his robes billowing out as he took the assailant's legs out from under him by swinging out a furious round kick aimed at the ankles.

Katara immediately flung out her arms, sending ice daggers towards the fallen figure. But before any of her ice could even make contact, the assailant was up on his feet with inhuman speed and he sliced through the ice with his sword without even stopping. He rushed forward, swinging his swords at her and Katara had to focus really hard to gather the water back and ice the floor and at the same time, try not to get beheaded. She was so busy concentrating that she didn’t notice Sokka yelling out at her, and by then it was too late- she realized a second too late that she had walked right into a trap, her back hitting against the wall behind her.

"No!" Sokka shouted out, trying to intercept the assailant's sword away as the man whirled around to strike at her head and she ducked at the last second, the sword slashing an ugly gash on the wall where her head was a few seconds ago. She stumbled on her feet and saw Sokka charging in just then. The black figure was steady on his feet, easily deflecting and dodging Sokka’s attack as he parried each and every one of his strikes without any difficulty. He kicked Sokka savagely on his chest and sent him crashing down on the floor.

Zuko had already moved in by then. However, with one strike he easily side stepped Zuko's swords, leapt into the air and landed right in front of Katara, who was stumbling up on her feet. She whipped up the water instantly and moving her hands in practiced motions, she froze the blade of his sword; stepping in to shatter the frozen sword with her water whip. But right in front of her eyes, the ice around the blade just vaporized in thin air.

Firebender.

The realization had just sunk in when Sokka barged in, trying to land a blow, their swords clanging as the assailant was pushed backwards. Sokka's strikes were so powerful that it seemed that the sword would fall out of the black figure’s hand. But it won’t matter, Katara thought hurriedly- this was a fire bender. He was just toying with them and something about that thought sent a surge of anger through her veins. She watched as Sokka blocked a strike to his head but didn’t see the low kick that caught him at the side. He wheezed, going down on his knees. Katara snarled, clamping her hands, and sending the water rushing forward to cover up that assailant’s head in a water bubble. It was useless, she knew it, but it at least gave Sokka a few seconds to recover his footing as the man stumbled slightly, before angrily vaporizing the water around his head and turning towards her. 

Sokka held his sword up, breathing loudly as he tried to get up from the floor.

The next few seconds seemed to happen in slow motion. Katara saw Zuko leaping over Sokka’s prone form, his swords suspended in midair. At the same time, the assailant moved towards her, so fast that she didn’t even realize he was there before a hand grabbed her, wrenching her arms and pinning them behind her back and twisting savagely. A sharp pain shot up her shoulder blade and painful grunt wheezed out of her mouth, her fingers going numb and the water falling helplessly on the ground. 

Zuko landed right in front of her, his right sword resting on the assailant's neck.

For a few seconds, no one spoke. Katara couldn’t move, the man’s grip on her was so strong and painful, she could hardly breathe. Zuko’s hand was deathly still, his blade resting on the assailant’s neck, but she knew it was too late.

The cold steel of the black clad figure’s sword was pressed lightly against her throat, and Katara could feel a slow trickle of blood sliding down her neck from the point where the blade was firmly pressed against her jugular vein.

~~**~~**~~  
  
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	4. Chapter 4

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Silence.

So thick and so heavy it felt overwhelmingly suffocative. And unreal.

In the pale moonlight filtering in through the huge windows, Zuko was standing right in front of Katara, his eyes betraying the anger his calm facade was masking.

"Let her go." Katara heard his voice but she didn’t really see his lips move. It came out as a deathly whisper so sharp, it almost felt like a physical blow. There was no response except the tightening of the assailant's grip on her arms, resulting in a fresh wave of pain shooting up her shoulder blades. She grunted in pain, biting down on her lips to stop a whimper of agony escaping her mouth.

"You don't want to do that." Zuko said calmly, his hand holding the sword perfectly still. For a moment, amazement washed through Katara at how composed the former prince was. The way she had always known him before, she would have expected him to lash out in anger recklessly- but there he was, standing motionless like a statue, his face betraying no emotions whatsoever- the only indication of his anger was the slow heat radiating out of his sword and the absolutely murderous look in his eyes.

"Katara!" Sokka took a few steps towards her, gripping his sword tightly. "Unhand my sister you creep!"

"Sokka?"

It took Katara a moment to realize that the person who had spoken out her brother's name was the man behind her. And just like that, the pressure released from her arms and the blade pressed against her throat moved away from her neck.

Katara stumbled forward when the man let go; the water was already rushing towards her, forming into a thick whip that slammed into the man, sending him flying across the room, his sword clanging onto the wooden floor. She tumbled towards the ground, losing her balance when a pair of strong hands caught her, pulling her up on her feet.

"Are you alright?" Zuko asked, a tiny hint of relief seeping into his voice.

“Yeah.” She shook his hand away and stood up straight. 

Sokka was bent next to the prone figure of the man, helping him up on his feet. Zuko walked past her, putting his swords back into their sheath and Katara mutely followed, rubbing her arms, trying to get the circulation back. She peered over Zuko's shoulder and a vaguely familiar face was staring back at her; it took her a few seconds to realize that the man was Piandao's attendant, the same person who had been around Piandao during Sokka’s training, the same person who had helped Sokka make his meteorite sword with the 'space earth' as Toph had named it.

"You!" Katara snarled. " It’s you! Why the hell did you attack us?!"

The man got on his knees and bowed down, his forehead touching the floor. "My deepest apologies" he muttered. "I didn't realize it was Sokka until I heard him call out your name. I was expecting it to be one of the many spies keeping a watch over the house for the past few days. I should have been more careful."

“Should have been?” Katara screeched, her anger getting the better of her. “You nearly killed me!” She furiously pulled the collar of her robe down, showing him the cut on her neck that was still bleeding a bit.

"Katara." Zuko placed his hand on her shoulder, squeezing it in warning. Katara tried to push him away, taking a step towards the man on his knees instead. She wanted to shake him, punch his face, make him suffer. But Zuko held her back, his grip on her shoulder getting painfully tight.

"We came to meet Master Piandao." Sokka said to the man, his attention focused on the attendant who still had his head on the floor. At the mention of Piandao’s name, the man straightened up, sitting on his hunches.

"This is not a safe place to talk." He got up on his feet, shooting another apologetic look at the fuming Katara. "We need to get away from this room. Follow me please."

Katara scowled but didn’t say anything. The man was leading them down a corridor, down a steep spiral staircase that could only lead to an underground room and finally stopped in front of what appeared to be a cellar door- the curious design of the door standing out to her. At first glance, it looked like a wooden board criss crossed over with square panels but on closer inspection, it looked exactly like a Pai Sho board. Except that it was in the form of a door.

The man stopped there without opening the door and turned to look at them.

"Who knocks at the guarded gate?" he asked in a low voice and gazed over at Sokka expectantly. Sokka had a confused expression on his face and by the way he was scratching his chin, Katara knew he had no idea what was going on or what he was supposed to say.

"Sokka?" Katara asked tentatively. "Aren't you supposed to answer that?"

"How does one reply to such a question?" Sokka was bewildered, flailing his arms around "How am I supposed to know who knocks at what guarded gate?"

Katara sighed, rubbing her forehead.

"Can't we just go in?" Sokka asked hopefully.

"Unfortunately, the rules have got to be maintained." The man shook his head. "I know the master gave you the white lotus tile and if you are to talk about him or meet him, you need to prove yourself worthy by giving the correct answer to the question asked."

"Don't tell me we came all this way for nothing." Katara huffed, trying hard to keep the irritation out of her voice as the seconds slowly ticked by and Sokka was still scratching his head.

"One who has eaten the fruit and tasted its mysteries."

The three of them turned to look at Zuko, Sokka's mouth hanging open. "How did…?"

"That's right." The man replied, a relieved smile on his face. " You will need to unlock it."

Sokka raised his eyebrow at Zuko questioningly.

"The lotus tile." Zuko hinted.

Sokka slowly pulled the tile out of his pocket and walked up to the door, studying it. After a moment, he hesitantly placed it on one of the square panels and gave it a gentle push. Nothing happened. He took the tile out, scratched his head a bit more and then pushed the tile in another square panel and gave it another gentle push. The tile fit in there with a small click and from somewhere inside the room, a louder click sounded, and the door swung open. Katara caught a quick glimpse of a long winding staircase disappearing into the dark, just before the man walked over to stand in front of the door and bowed down with a traditional Fire Nation greeting.

"The white lotus opens wide to those who know her secret."

At the bottom of the staircase was another door which opened to a tiny room. It was lit with torches hanging from the wall and there was no sign of anyone else.

"Where is Piandao?" Sokka asked as soon as they all stepped inside the room and closed the door behind them.

"Unfortunately, the master is not here." He slotted the torch up in one of the holding cases in the wall.

"What?" Zuko's anger finally found its voice "Where is he?" he snapped.

"I apologize on behalf of my master, Prince Zuko" He said respectfully.

Zuko frowned, a hard look of suspicion clouding over his golden eyes.

"How do you know who I am?" He asked in a quiet voice.

"I know all about you, Prince Zuko. Or at least some of the things which my master has let me know about you. All I can say is I am honored to have finally met another member of the Royal Family who has what it takes to stand up for what is right."

A brief silence greeted that speech. Sokka shifted uncomfortably, peering over at Katara. Katara shrugged- she was a bit surprised to find out that the man knew so much about the Prince but then this was a secret society they were talking about- who knew what intel they had.

"Wait." Zuko spoke up, "What did you mean when you said 'another member of the royal family'?"

"I am sure you know who I am talking about. I am not at much liberty to divulge much information but the only reason I have stayed behind is on my master's orders."

He held out a rolled yellow parchment, tied over with a scarlet ribbon. The light off the torch glinted on what appeared to be an ornately decorated white lotus seal."This is for you." He handed the parchment over to Sokka, who took it without a word."My master suspected you might want to contact him. After what happened during the eclipse, my master was convinced that the prince of the Fire Nation might come along with you. All he has permitted me to tell you is that whoever you seek is perfectly fine."

"That is hardly enough information to go by." Katara glared.

"I apologize. But whatever you need to know is already written down on the letter.”

"Who are the people outside?" Zuko asked.

"I believe they are sentries sent out by the Princess herself. Almost all of the fire nation noble families have been put under surveillance by the decree of the Fire Lord; to root out traitors and to make sure no one could provide shelter to those whom the fire lord has labeled as betrayers of their own country."

Katara did not have to look at Zuko to imagine the expression on his face. Labeled as a traitor to his own country, hunted by his own father- left with no place to go- what if they failed in their quest to stop the Fire Lord? What would the Fire Nation do to him? Katara’s mouth went dry, an uncomfortable feeling gnawing at the pit of her stomach.

"The master and other members of the White Lotus have finally decided to take an active stance in the war and hence have gone into hiding.” The man continued. “All I am permitted to tell you is that you will know soon enough. I believe they are working on some grand plan but I don’t know anything more than that."

Sokka seemed to be hanging on to every word that was being said. Katara had never seen him so quiet in his entire life and it unnerved her; the sense of uneasiness growing by the second. What were they getting themselves into?

Suddenly, a dull clang echoed outside. Katara turned around, her heart pounding up her eardrums. She nervously swirled the water around her fingers, all her nerves at a heightened sense of alert. Sokka and Zuko were standing by her side, their swords already in their hands.

And just like that, all hell broke loose.

~~**~~**~~

Sokka let out a yell and fell, tripping over Katara as the ground that they were standing on swayed beneath their feet. The wall to their right creaked ominously and a shower of dust fell over them. Katara coughed, getting on her knees as the ground continued to rumble.

"What's happening?" She could hear Sokka yelling from somewhere over the floor. "Is it an earthquake?!"

The torch lights flickered dangerously and a couple of them dislodged from the wall, clattering on the floor- the flames extinguishing instantly, plunging them into semi darkness.

_It was not an earthquake-_ Katara opened her mouth to shout back and choked on the dust. She groped through the haze, crawling on her hands and knees, trying to ignore the vibrations of the ground which was getting stronger by the second.

"We have to get outside." Sokka's frantic voice ripped through her thoughts. "Katara! Where are you?"

"Here." She managed to choke out and almost immediately someone grasped her by her arms and she stumbled on to her feet. Sokka's face looked strained, anxiety written all over it.

"Out.. Out! Now!” Katara shouted over the noise. “Where is Zuko?" There was no sign of the Fire Prince and almost unwillingly, the uneasiness from before exploded into full blown panic, seizing her by her guts. She clutched onto Sokka's arm tightly, flaying blindly around, trying to find someone, anyone - _I won’t leave anyone behind_ \- she thought fiercely. “Zuko, you damn bastard! Where are you?” she wheezed, scrambling up towards the staircase, Sokka holding on to her arm.

And through the haze and darkness, Zuko grasped her other hand.

Katara almost sobbed in relief. She held on and without another word, the three of them struggled up the stairs. The walls behind them were starting to crumble and they broke out into a stumbling run, the clear outline of the door just a few feet in front of them. When they finally made it outside, Katara found herself on her knees on the grass, gasping for air. They had lost Piandao’s man in the madness but Katara didn’t have time to worry about him. She had clearly seen him in front of them when they made their way outside so he must have disappeared into the darkness willingly. The rumbling of the earth had stopped by then but Katara had no doubt in her mind about what had caused it.

"Dai Li." Zuko whispered urgently. "Let’s go- let’s go. Now! Come on!"

Throwing caution to the wind, they made a mad dash over to the bamboo grooves surrounding the backyard of the house. Katara could see several huge columns of earth that had crashed through the walls of the mansion, some of them breaking through the windows of the room they had first entered into, some of them protruding out from the rooftop like a grotesque giant stick figure. It had literally ripped the mansion apart. Katara frowned at the uncharacteristic attack of the Dai Li. Whatever happened to their concept of stealth and discretion?

"Do you think Azula is with them?" Sokka panted.

"For her sake, I hope not." Zuko gritted his teeth, his breath coming in huffs.

The woods were just a few feet away, and running as fast as they could, they would have made it in another few seconds. That was if the ground beneath their feet had not ripped apart in two. It happened so fast that Katara didn’t even get time to scream in surprise. Zuko and Sokka disappeared from her view and she was falling through empty space, right into the gaping chasm of earth that had opened up right below her.

Instincts born out of dedicated training took over her terrified senses. Her arms moved on their own accord, her fingers pulling out water from the surrounding plants, forming a thick slab of ice that wedged itself across the chasm and she fell on it with a gentle thud, sliding a bit to break her momentum but finally coming to a stop. It didn’t even take her a moment to catch her breath- and she was already moving. Adrenaline rushing through her veins pushed her up on her feet and she was running over the jagged wall of earth, finding footholds in protruded slabs of earth and tree roots, finally flipping over the top to land on her feet, already in her waterbending stance.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Sokka climbing out of another crevice, using his machete as a handhold with the help of which, he had no doubt prevented himself from falling all the way down to the bottom of the crevice. In a flash he was by her right, just as Zuko jumped down and stood to her left from the tree branch he must have swung up on to avoid falling into the gap.

Katara slowly took in a deep breath, trying to clear her head. Sokka had silently taken his sword out but Katara’s eyes were peeled straight ahead, at the line of Dai Li agents standing in a circle, surrounding them, the green of their uniform almost looking black in the silver light of the moon. They made no move and neither did she. The wind howled around them, whipping up leaves and dust in the air.

Katara knew what was going to happen next, it was as if she had been anticipating this encounter from the moment she had agreed to go on this hunt for Piandao. And sure enough, even as she watched with narrowed eyes, the Dai Li agents split up, making space for someone to move forward. She could sense Zuko tense up beside her and an unnatural thrill of excitement rushed through her veins. Oh, she had been waiting for this- waiting for this moment ever since they had climbed atop Appa, ever since the first whoosh of the Yu Yen archers' arrows echoed up her eardrums, ever since she had laid eyes on the walls of the mansion.

Azula.

The Princess of the Fire Nation.

The one who had so effectively destroyed their plans of the invasion. The one who had nearly killed the Avatar and the one who just happened to be the sister of the man standing right next to her.

The smirk on her face raised the hair at the back of Katara’s neck. Sokka fidgeted to her side and Azula regarded them with a lazy glance- golden eyes so similar to Zuko but unlike him, these pair of eyes were shining with malice, cruelty and hatred.

"I seem to have that effect on people." She drawled, motioning to Sokka.

Katara tried to calm down her heart, which was hammering in terror and elation, a heady mixture intoxicating her sense. Yes, Azula had that effect on her. She stood there in the moonlight, looking so perfect, so confident- her eyes cold orbs of frozen lava, her hair tied back perfectly without a strand out of place- looking as if she owned the place. Looking as if she owned Katara.

Katara snarled.

"We don't want to fight you." Sokka nudged Katara with his foot. "Let us go."

“Oh, surely you don’t expect me to do that?” Azula drawled, examining her nails.

Zuko moved slightly by her side and Katara could sense the anger radiating from him. Anger and eagerness- something she was acutely familiar with right now- and she clenched her hands, willing them not to shake from the insane desire to lash out and wipe that look off Azula’s face.

"Ooo. Looks like Zuzu found some new friends.” Azula cooed. “The Avatar's friends.”

Zuko didn’t respond.

Katara wondered why it had taken so long for Azula to address her brother.

"It doesn't matter anyway." She continued lazily, calmly folding her arms in front of her chest. "I have my orders to bring you in dead or alive, dear brother of mine. If it means going through your friends,-” Azula used air quotes around the word- “bring them on. The more the merrier I say."

"Isn't your father tired of your failures yet?" Sokka's voice suddenly rang out, effectively wiping the smile off Azula's face- the smile which was replaced immediately with so much hatred on her face, that for a few seconds, she looked completely deranged- a glint in her eyes almost akin to someone who was on the verge of losing one's mind.

Azula struck out so fast, Katara didn't even get time to blink. A flame of blue fire raced towards Sokka. Zuko grabbed Katara’s shoulder, spun her out of the way and he threw himself in front of Sokka, collecting the flame in his hands and splitting it apart in two.

The flame fizzled out, smoke lingering in the air.

He stood up straight and glared at Azula. "You will have to go through me before you can get to them."

Azula was panting a bit, the crazed look in her eyes sending shivers of anticipating down Katara’s spine. And just like that, Azula stood back, regaining her composure."I won't bother working up a sweat, Zuzu.” She dismissed him quietly, the momentary uncharacteristic lapse of control over her emotions a distant memory. "First, we must know what you, my dearest brother- was trying to do here."

She snapped her fingers.

The next second, a huge chunk of earth flew over towards them and Katara had to dive out of the way. The boulder shattered into pieces on impact but Katara was already scrambling up to her feet, flinging two of the Dai Li out of her way with her water whip and racing behind the retreating back of the Fire Nation Princess.

Azula won’t get away this time.

"Katara! Wait!" Someone shouted, probably Zuko but she didn’t wait, her eyes fixed on Azula. A barrage of rocks assailed her, making her slow down and she yelled in frustration when she had to stop and shield herself with her ice. Pulling more water out of the grass beneath her feet, she started throwing chunks of ice around her, deflecting the rocks, and searing through them in midair. “Get out of my way!” she screamed, furious.

A brilliant flame of orange fire blasted past her and the Dai Li scattered, hurling themselves out of the way. Katara took off without another look and immediately Zuko pulled her back by grabbing onto the back of her robes.

“What do you think you are doing?” He snarled. The earth between them rose in a column and Zuko pushed her away. With a sweep of her arms, Katara froze the Dai Li to a tree.

“What does it look like I am doing?” she snapped. Water slammed onto the face of another Dai Li agent, making him stumble. Katara whipped the water from the grass beneath his feet and flicked her hand, making the water spin around him violently, pushing him up in the air. When she let go, the Dai Li agent fell back to the ground and stayed down.

“It looks as if you are trying to take down Azula and the other two all on your own!" Zuko shouted, irritated. He was facing off against another Dai Li. He dodged the flame of fire but couldn’t block Zuko’s kick that caught him on the side of his head, knocked the helmet off of him, which went flying in the air and landed a couple of feet away from his crumpled form.

“You think I am not good enough?” Katara spun towards him, her face contorted with anger.

"Don't be stupid." Zuko stood his ground. " I know what you are capable of and I also know you can take them down any day. But not today! Today we have to escape and get back to Aang.”

“You coward!” Katara spat viciously and immediately Zuko’s face closed off. Katara froze, realizing what she had just said.

"Guys! Look out!" Sokka shouted out and Zuko’s eyes went wide. That was all the warning she had before she suddenly found herself sinking into the ground. A terrified memory of a mad general sinking her into the ground to force Aang to go into the Avatar state flashed before her eyes and she took a deep breath. Not this time, she reminded herself grimly.

She moved her hands in a circle above her head, gathering the moisture around the Dai Li agent who was concentrating hard on trapping her in the ground. With a quick flick of her wrists, the moisture started to latch on to the face of the Dai Li, hardening into ice and freezing slowly over his face, icing over his nose and mouth. He let out an inaudible scream, his hands scrabbling over his face, trying to break the ice off so that he could breathe. That was all the time Katara needed to scramble out. By the time the Dai Li agent managed to break the ice off and take in a grateful gulp of air, Sokka’s boomerang had already knocked him unconscious.

"Are you alright?" Sokka yelled behind his back. He was trying to get closer to another Dai Li who was hurling chunks of rock at him and trying to encase his feet with earth. Sokka somehow managed to dodge them all and got close enough to punch the guy with the hilt of his sword. The Dai Li stumbled back and Sokka quickly twisted his arms back in a painful grip and with a sharp jab to the side of the Dai Li agent's neck, knocked him unconscious.

"Where did you learn that move?"

"The jab with the hand?" Sokka asked smugly. "Suki taught me."

Katara surveyed the damage around them. Zuko was standing over the last agent who was buried underneath a rumble of earth chunks, glassy eyes shining. A strong smell of mud and burnt earth lingered over the air.

"So, it seems like you managed to overpower the Dai Li."

And that voice was all it took for Katara’s anger to burn with the heat of a thousand suns.

“Azula!”

Two figures that had been standing in the shadows, walked forward to join Azula’s side. A girl dressed in pink, her long hair bouncing behind her in a braided plait. She gave a bright grin at Sokka- the chi blocking girl.

Katara shuddered a bit- the memory of being unable to bend, that feeling of vulnerability- it swept through her once again at the sight of the girl leering at Sokka. However, it was the other girl who caught her eyes this time. Tall, silent, and deadly with knives- Katara had never really paid much attention to her before but the way she was looking at Zuko now, it made her falter for a second.

That was not the look of anger or malice, neither was it a look that had any place on an enemy’s face. That look was a look drowning in sadness- a look of betrayal perhaps. Katara was not someone who was good at reading faces but something about the way her very presence spoke of sorrow- it made Katara turn her face away- made her feel as if she were intruding upon a private grief, a grief so strong it didn’t have any words to express it.

Katara’s heart started hammering painfully in her chest- an unknown fear of finding out something that she didn't want to know about overwhelming her. The sharp 'chink' of a shuriken sliced the night, the moonlight reflecting off its sharp edges in her right sleeve. Sokka moved in closer beside Zuko; and Katara counted the seconds slowly in her head, waiting for her to attack.

"Mai…" Zuko whispered softly, the wind carrying his words over to Katara’s ears. One whisper. One whisper was all it took for Katara to understand. One whisper of a name, full of unspoken feelings, feelings that could only be held for someone that meant the world to you, someone with whom you shared a bond closer than anyone else in your life, the bond of love.

Katara’s chest hurt at the implication. Zuko gave her up too? Friends, family, country- love; he gave up on everything to be by their side? To help Aang? And she had just called him a coward. Katara could feel the prick of hot tears of shame stinging her eyes. She blinked them away furiously.

"This should be fun." Azula smirked.

And that was the last thing Katara heard before a bright flame of electric blue fire shot towards Zuko and she had to fling herself away to the side to dodge Mai’s shuriken from slicing off her neck.

Katara got up on her feet, wiping the tiny trickle of blood from her cheek where the shuriken had managed to nick her. “Come and get me, you miserable knife freak” she hissed, licking the blood off the back of her hand. “Once I am done with you, I am going to make Azula wish she were never born.”

She was going to make Azula pay for what she did to Aang in Ba Sing Se.

And for that, she would take on anyone. Even this Mai- it didn’t matter if she was Zuko’s girlfriend or not. No one stands in her way to Azula, she swore. 

~~**~~**~~


End file.
